Debra Solomon / Culiblog.'s Profile

An alternative to a GARBAGE BOWL is a big pot of simmering water on the stove. Throw in some salt, a bay leaf and all the edible scraps you produce in the course of making dinner. Another word for this is SOUP.

If you don't get too crazy with what you throw in, you'll have a delicious bouillon for the next day or for whenever. In France it's traditional and folks just keep adding and adding to this pot of slow simmering water. There are pots of bouillon that have never been washed in 15 years simmering away in France. Think about it.

Don't worry about the soup's composition too much, good ingredients taste good together - you'll see. Apple peel, chicken parts and bones, veggie tops, the outer leaves of lettuce, bunches of old herbs and root balls chopped off onions. Just throw it in the simmering pot of water.

IMPORTANT TIP: DO NOT STIR, EVER. NEVER LET THE BOUILLON BOIL. There will be dirt and yuckiness from the vegetable scraps, and meat trimmings if you eat meat. Just let the dirt fall to the bottom and occasionally skim off any scum the floats to the top - and discard.

TIP: DO NOT OVER-THINK THE SOUP. Before you go to bed, turn off the heat and in the morning, carefully pour off the beautiful and CLEAR bouillon to use as soup, as an ingredient in other dishes, to freeze. It's so dang handy. It will use up most of your scraps. And it makes the house smell great.